Jan. 12, 2016 /
![Killion Votes for State Funding for Penn State, Temple, Lincoln and Pitt]()
HARRISBURG – Rep. Thomas Killion (R-Delaware) joined the majority of his House colleagues Monday in voting to approve funding for Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities – Penn State, Temple and Lincoln universities and the University of Pittsburgh – but the measures fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage.
Jan. 12, 2016 /
![Oberlander Alerts CDL Holders, Permit Seekers of New Changes]()
HARRISBURG – To comply with federal regulations, a new state law is now in effect that may affect individuals who hold commercial driver licenses (CDL) or those who will be seeking them, said Rep. Donna Oberlander (R-Clarion/Armstrong/Forest). Many of the new changes went into effect Dec. 21.
Jan. 12, 2016 /
![Vereb Won’t Seek Another Term in State House]()
HARRISBURG — State Rep. Mike Vereb (R-Montgomery) today announced he will not seek another two-year term serving the residents of Pennsylvania’s 150th Legislative District.
Jan. 12, 2016 /
![House Democrats Block Funding for College Students, Say York County House Republicans]()
HARRISBURG – Efforts to send much-needed funding to Penn State University (including the Pennsylvania College of Technology), the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University, Lincoln University and the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School failed today when the legislation allocating the revenue did not achieve the necessary two-thirds majority of votes.
Jan. 12, 2016 /
![House Falls Short of Needed Support to Fund State-Related Universities]()
HARRISBURG – Today the House voted on the five non-preferred appropriation bills that would fund Penn State, University of Pittsburgh, Temple, Lincoln University and the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School. These pieces of legislation represented a 5 percent increase for each of the schools, with the exception of Lincoln University which would have seen a 7 percent increase.
Jan. 11, 2016 /
![Gingrich Announces Plans to Retire From House]()
HARRISBURG – Rep. Mauree Gingrich (R-Lebanon) announced today that she will retire from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives where she has served the citizens of the 101st Legislative District since 2003. Gingrich will finish her seventh and final two-year term in public office in November.
Jan. 11, 2016 /
![Harper Bill Aims to Crack Down on Turnpike Toll Violators]()
HARRISBURG – With the Pennsylvania Turnpike losing millions of dollars annually in unpaid tolls, Rep. Kate Harper (R-Montgomery) has introduced legislation to allow the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to suspend the registration of a vehicle owner who habitually skips out on paying tolls.
Jan. 11, 2016 /
![Benninghoff Votes to Increase Funding for Penn State]()
HARRISBURG – Rep. Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) today voted to approve a 5 percent increase in the state’s appropriations for the Pennsylvania State University over last year’s funding levels to keep tuition affordable for students, without any new or increased taxes on Pennsylvania residents. The vote, which requires a two-thirds majority to pass, failed in the House with little Democratic support.
Jan. 08, 2016 /
![Grove, Dush and Christiana Question Wolf Administration Fiscal Management, Transparency - $2 billion line of credit raises concerns of adequate management]()
HARRISBURG – On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Treasury announced that a $2 billion line of credit has been extended to the Commonwealth due to the General Fund’s “historic low [balance] for this time of year,” according to a Jan. 6 press release issued by the Treasury.
Jan. 07, 2016 /
![Tallman Legislation Would Block Obama Executive Order on Firearms]()
HARRISBURG – State Rep. Will Tallman (R-Adams/Cumberland) has proposed legislation that would protect Pennsylvanians’ Second Amendment rights and make it illegal for the federal government to impose further regulations on firearms through executive order.
Jan. 07, 2016 /
![Counterfeit Airbag Prevention Bill Advances to Senate, Says Boback]()
HARRISBURG – A bill intended to prevent counterfeit airbags from being installed in vehicles, introduced by Rep. Karen Boback (R-Lackawanna/Luzerne/Wyoming) recently passed the House.
Jan. 07, 2016 /
![Kaufer Named Deputy Chair of the House Majority Policy Committee]()
HARRISBURG – This week, Rep. Aaron Kaufer (R-Luzerne) announced that he will serve as a Deputy Chair of the House Majority Policy Committee during the 2015-16 legislative session.
Jan. 06, 2016 /
![Ortitay Bill Would Reduce Tax Burden on Business, Make Pennsylvania More Competitive]()
HARRISBURG – Rep. Jason Ortitay (R-Washington/Allegheny) today introduced legislation to reduce the state’s Corporate Net Income Tax (CNIT) rate, which is currently the second highest in the nation. The incremental change would make Pennsylvania more competitive in the national and global marketplace.
Jan. 05, 2016 /
![State Funding Finally Released to Schools, Counties and Human Services Organizations, Benninghoff Says]()
HARRISBURG – Rep. Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) today announced that local school districts, counties and human services organizations should begin to receive their delayed state payments as early as today. Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Treasury completed sending out 16,400 in expedited payments totaling nearly $3.3 billion.
Jan. 05, 2016 /
![Dunbar Reacts to Wolf’s Line-Item Veto of Responsible State Budget]()
HARRISBURG – Rep. George Dunbar (R-Westmoreland) issued the following statement regarding Gov. Tom Wolf’s partial veto of the responsible 2015-16 state budget (House Bill 1460) that was sent to him by the Legislature on Dec. 24:
Jan. 05, 2016 /
![Benefits Cliff Broken Down and Low-Income Workforce Initiative Signed by Governor]()
HARRISBURG – After two and a half years of community input, two pieces of legislation designed by House Republicans to greater assist those attempting to achieve the “American Dream,” were signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf.
Jan. 05, 2016 /
![Boback’s Caller Identification Falsification Legislation Advances]()
HARRISBURG – Legislation introduced by Rep. Karen Boback (R-Lackawanna/Luzerne/Wyoming), which is intended to discourage fraudulent caller-identification activity, recently passed the House. House Bill 391 would make it a crime to display false caller identification information with the intent to deceive someone.
Dec. 31, 2015 /
![Dush Responds to Wolf’s Bizarre Partial Budget Veto]()
HARRISBURG – Rep. Cris Dush (R-Jefferson/Indiana) is issued the following statement regarding the governor’s partial veto of the responsible 2015-16 state budget that was sent to him by the Legislature on Dec. 24:
Dec. 31, 2015 /
![Staats Frustrated by Gov. Wolf’s Manipulation of EITC]()
HARRISBURG – Rep. Craig Staats (R-Bucks) issued the following statement in response to letters sent by Gov. Tom Wolf last week to businesses notifying them that their applications to the educational tax credit programs have been conditionally approved even though the 2015-16 state budget has not yet been fully finalized.
Dec. 31, 2015 /
![Rader Reacts to Gov. Wolf’s Line-Item Veto]()
HARRISBURG – Rep. Jack Rader (R-Monroe) issued the following statement after Gov. Tom Wolf used the line-item veto on nearly $7 billion of the state budget sent to him by the Legislature last week. The governor’s actions on Tuesday did allow for the release of critical emergency funding to schools and human service agencies.